“Carole had to give up her job in order to do this which was pretty sad. She liked her job but she saw an opportunity here and went for it so good for her,” Russell said.

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While he’s back working for the government in administration, Carole is looking to take her career in a new direction.

“I used to work for Qantas airlines as the airport manager’s personal assistant and I used to orchestrate the recognition program with the staff,” she said.

“I loved seeing people rewarded for what they do, especially for the lengths of service.”

Now, Carole is looking to use her talent for interior design and apply it to the hospitality industry.

“I’d like to re-dress cafes and restaurants. How often do you go to a restaurant and think that perhaps the food’s fantastic but the decor is totally wrong, the lighting is wrong, the tables are in the wrong place?” she said.

“I just think that restaurants need to be somewhere where you can actually rest and have a beautiful meal. If they’ve got the great food but the bad decor, then that’s not a perfect mix.”

If the WA team had have won the grand prize, Carole would have liked to “open a small coffee shop somewhere with some funky music playing and a minimal amount of seating”.

“There’s a coffee shop just up the road and it’s really understated and could be a beautiful Italian restaurant which does coffee during the day,” she said.

“But the right people haven’t got in there with the right energy and the right style to give it what it needs. With a bit of luck something will happen.”

Carole said that while many get it wrong, some local cafes deserve top marks including Louis Baxters in Subiaco, which is co-owned by WA Olympian Eamon Sullivan.

“That is such a funky coffee shop and there’s plenty of room. It’s set out perfectly and the doors open really tall and wide,” she said.

“There’s seating along the side, you can queue up, get your coffee and go outside and sit on a crate with a cushion on it."

“That’s why that place has tall doors, so (Sullivan) can get underneath,” Russell laughed.